The Lower Peninsula

Wednesday, Aug. 17th.  We left Cedarville in the rain at about 10:30.  We drove about 2 1/2 hours to Mancelona.  It's south of Petosky and Charlevoix.  It stopped raining and got sunny when we got into Petosky.  In Charlevoix we walked around the Marina and were walking from the lake to the lighthouse on Lake Michigan when the camera fell into the Charlevoix channel.  Gone forever.  So there went all the pictures of crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, Petosky and Charlevoix.  Tomorrow we're going to Traverse City and there's a Best Buy, who carries the same camera.  So we'll remedy our dilemma tomorrow.  The Lake Michigan coast is beautiful (you'll have to take our word for it).  The drive along the lake is one of the top 120 scenic drives in the U.S.  We're going to do another portion of it tomorrow.

Beach Time on Lake Huron

All to ourselves

Buster digging for his shadow

Tuesday, August 16th.  We awoke to another sparkler of a day.  We did have to turn the heat on briefly last night.  But it was already 60 degrees by the time we got outside.  After washing windows, we packed a lunch and took off for the beach.  We found a semi-deserted beach just a few miles down the road from the campground.  Long stretches of nice sand and only one other family there.  They had a chocolate lab so he and Buster became acquainted in no time.  The water stayed shallow for a long way out, which Buster liked. Buster discovered his shadow in the shallow water and it was fun to watch him try to get it.  It was hard to get deep enough to take a dip...but I did accomplish that feat.  Chilly at first, but very refreshing.  I must say this is the nicest beach I ever experienced on Lake Huron.  We had a very nice day.

More Pic's from Monday

Revisiting our honeymoon

Upper Falls

Overview of locks

Lower Falls

I had intended to put more pictures up in my blog post yesterday.  But I tried to do a short video and it never did load fully and the only way I could save the text was to post it as is.  So that's the reason for the two dark screens and not pics.  Here are some from Soo Locks, the Iriquois Point Lighthouse and from Taq. Falls.

Locks, Lights and Falls

Monday, August 15th.  Well four weeks ago today Di and I left on the trip.  I can't believe it's been a month already....and we're still getting along (we've never spent this much time together).  It has been so fun to see what's around the next bend or what new sight we're going to share.  It has been fun having Buster along as well.  He's been a great traveler.  But today we left Buster in the motorhome and took off for Sault Ste Marie.  We went to see the Soo Locks.  They are huge!!! There was a 1004 foot ore freighter going thru when we were there.  The locks transition from Lake Superior to the St. Mary's River, which goes into Lake Huron.

We then took off for Tahquamenon Falls (Taq Falls).  On the way we saw Iriquois Point lighthouse, located on Whitefish Bay.  Strikingly beautiful on a great stretch of Lake Superior shoreline.

Taq Falls is a location we visited 43 years ago on our honeymoon.  While it's the same falls, the viewing of them has changed.  Last time we were here, we could walk down to the lower falls and actually walk behind them, across to the other side.  Now as a result of our litigation-happy society, all access to the water's edge is restricted for liability reasons.  Nevertheless, the falls are still beautiful and it was such a beautiful day to see them.

We got home to release Buster from his motorhome jail.  Everything was in good shape so he did a good job.  He was happy to see us and we went for a long walk and a good game of fetch.  All in all it was a great day.

Across the Upper Peninsula

Sunday, August 14th.  Not a very exciting day.  Drove across the U.P. to Cedarville, located east of St. Ignace on the Lake Huron shoreline.  But there's no swimming beach!  Nice folks in the campground.  Very friendly and invited us to a potluck dinner and cards.  We walked to town after dinner and saw some neat old houses.  A beautiful, clear evening.

Waterfalls

Miner's Rock from another view

Saturday, August 13th.  After a great breakfast at Sydney's we went on a waterfall tour.  There's a surprising number of waterfalls in the area and it was worth the search.  In the afternoon I washed the car and motorhome.  As I did so I had the opportunity to watch a father across from us teach the first of his triplet girls how to ride a two-wheeler.  He walked/ran beside her around and around the loop until finally she got it.  She was so proud with a grin from ear to ear.  At one point he said they were not going home until everyone could ride without training wheels.  So daughter #2 told me she was next and they weren't going home until she and her sister learned.  It was very cute.  A cloud bank rolled in from the north and I thought sure it would rain...especially since I washed the car.  But it didn't.

Painted Rocks Cruise

Chapel Rock

Friday, August 12th.  We woke up to a light overcast...it reminded us of Seattle.  After breakfast we went to the docks to catch the painted rocks tour.  It's about a 2 1/2 hour tour along the coast northeast of Munising.  The rocks are an amazing mix of colors resulting from minerals in the rock.  That and erosion from wind and waves makes for some very interesting and beautiful sights.  There's a tree growing on Chapel Rock.  The root system supporting the tree goes across to the mainland to the left of the rock.  Following the tour we came back to the campground and relaxed the rest of the day.